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ADDRESS 



OF THE 



PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES 

AT THE 

LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE 

OF THE NATIONAL VICTORY 

MEMORIAL BUILDING 

ERECTED BY THE 
GEORGE WASHINGTON 
MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION 



Washington, D. C, November 14, 1921 



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WASHINGTON 
1921 




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ADDRESS. 



There begins here to-day the fiilfilhiieiit of one of the striking 
contemplations contained in the last will of the Father of his Coim- 
tr}'. It is an impressive fact, worthy of our especial thought, that in 
the century and a half since Washington became the leader, the heart 
and soul, of its struggle for independence and unity, this nation has 
so many times found occasions to record devotion to the precepts 
which lie laid down for its guidance. So to-day, after more than a 
century's delay, we are come to pay tribute to the foresight which 
first encouraged and endoAved the institution here established — an 
institution which is to be alike a monument to those Avho sacrificed in 
a noble cause, and a beacon to shed afar the light of useful knowl- 
edge and grateful understanding among men. For I need not re- 
mind you that Washington, in his last will and testament, first 
conceived the idea which we here see shaping into forms that shall 
combine loftiest sentiment and truest utility. He proposed, and gave 
a bequest to found an institution to disseminate learning, culture, 
and a proper understanding of right principles in government. In 
furtherance of that purpose, patriotic women and men have made 
possible the institution of which we are now to lay the corner. Very 
properly they have conceived Washington's impelling thought to 
have been a gathering place for Americans, where American minds 
could meet in fruitful exchanges. We can better appraise this 
thought when we recall the limited publicity, the slow transportation, 
and the difficult process of translating public sentiment of his day. 

Mindful of this inspiration for the achievement of to-day, I have 
thought it might be well to direct attention to some phases of Wash- 
ington's character which are not so well known as they deserve and 
which are w^onderfully set forth in the provisions of his last will 
and testament. 

It has seemed to me that our studies of Washington have been 
too much from those public sides from which we view him as the 
military chief, the inspired leader of the colonies, the statesman 
and guide of constitution-making times, the welding force which 
hammered fragments of communities into a great Nation; as the 
first President; and as the author of that body of domestic and 
foreign policies which he bequeathed in his farewell address. All 
this we know ; but we have not gathered all of inspiration that waits 
to reward the contemplation of the virtues and ideals that made 

75891—21 (3) 



\Vasliinf>t()ii, on his private and personal side, a very model of good 
citizenship, ^^ 

l*erhaps there has never been a nation Avliich has owed so much to 
one man as our Republic owes to Washinoton. As a youth, filled with 
the spirit of adventure and exploration, he came early to know the 
colonies and our nearest Northwest. In the epoch of the Seven 
Years' War, or as we call it, the French and Indian War, his leader- 
:ship was perhaps the contribution which saved this continent to 
assured dominion of i\\Q, English-speaking colonists. Indeed, I think 
it may be said that if on the one side Washington was the great per- 
sonal force that wrenched apart the two chief branches of the Eng- 
lish-speaking race, he was on the other the greatest personal factor , 
in saving this continent to Anglo-Saxon domination; and in doing \ 
that he contributed very greatly to making possible the wide-flung > 
family of English-speaking nations. If as leader of the revolting ■ 
colonies in '76, this time aided by France, he tore them from the grasp 
of England, it is equally true that two decades earlier he had saved 
them from the possible domination of France. I am sure that to-da}- 
our faithful friends and trusted Allies of France and England alike 
would agree that in botli cases, viewed in the light of siilisequent '^ 
•events, he served mankind well. 

With all these things we are reasonably familiar. We know his 
career as organizer and leader of colonial forces in the Seven Years' 
War: as generalissimo of the War of Independence; as chairman of 
the Constitutional Convention; as first President, as author of that 
farewell address, whose fund of wisdom has contributed so much to 
shape our national policies even to this day. 

But among the documents which attest his wisdom, there is one to 
which little study has been given. I mean bis last will and testa- 
ment. On an occasion such as brings us here to-day it is not inappro- 
priate to direct attention for a few moments to this remarkable in- 
strument. 

Washington was not only n great soldier and a groat statesman; he 
was also a man of great business affairs, and an eminent humani- 
tarian. Provident and always methodical, he amassed a fortune, 
which has been rated by many as the greatest of his time in all the 
country. Had it been his desire to found a monumental estate, the 
vast tracts of carefully selected land of which he was possessed, and 
in whose future value he had the utmost confidence, would have consti- 
tuted its ample foundation, But plainh'^ it was not his belief that society 
is best served by the transmission from generation to generation of 
such imposing aggregates of wealth. Therefore his will, after de- 
vising minor and largely sentimental bequests to man}- relatives and 
friends. dii-ect(Ml tliat the residuarv estate should be divided into 



23 equal shares, to be distributed among the heirs whom he named. 
Thus it comes a:bout that an estate which, if held together and wisely 
administered, might have become very large, was deliberately so dis- 
tributed that in a few years its entity was gone and its portions had 
been absorbed into the general body of the country's wealth. If that 
process of disintegration and absorption involved some loss, it is 
probable that in the sum of results the Nation was gainer by the 
policy of Washington. 

Washington as a model citizen shines forth with a peculiar radi- 
ance from this last testament. The first provision is that his debts 
shall be paid promptly. All the world needs the example of kept 
obligations. The second item makes generous provision for his wife ; 
and then comes the direction that at her death all his slaves shall 
be given freedom; that those who need it shallbe cared for by his 
estate; and that they all "are to be taught to read and write, and 
are to be brought up to some useful occupation." 

Next follow devises of funds to aid education of poor or orphaned 
■children, and for the endowment of a " University in a central part 
of the United States." Another specific bequest goes to Liberty Hall 
Academy, now Washington and Lee University, at Lexington, Va. 
A list of debtors are forgiven their debts. To each of five nephews 
he gave one of his swords with " an injunction not to unslieath them 
for the purpose of shedding blood except it be for self-defense or 
in defense of their country and its rights, and in the latter case to 
keep them unsheathed and prefer falling with them in their hands 
to the relinquishment thereof." There is no selection of words 
wherewith more eloquently to express the full duty and obligation 
of a good citizen to his country ! Let us be thankful that the spirit 
of that injunction has been borne in upon the Nation he founded 
and animates it even to this day. 

As a charter of good citizenship and patriotic purposes this last 
will and testament has been an inspiration many times to me. 
I commend its thoughtful reading to whoever would emulate his 
example. Indeed, as we are gathered here, representatives of a 
grateful and reverent Nation, to signalize the consummation of one 
more public beneficence inspired by him, I can think of nothing 
more appropriate than to urge the study of the Farewell Address 
and the last will and testament, as complements of each other. 
Neither of them can be fully appreciated without the other. The 
Farewell Address was the final adjuration of the soldier, the states- 
man, the founder. The will and testament was the last word of the 
Christian citizen, the loving husband, the devoted kinsman, — and 
the provident man of business. Studied together, they afford a 
complete key to the exalted character of one whom a;ll mankind has 



6 

learned to revere. Beyond that, I am prone to believe they contain 
a chart by which the captains w|d pilots of a world in distress, seek- 
ing harborage from batterin^storms and raging, unknown deeps^ 
might well lay the course of civilization itself. 

Within a brief century and a half, the American people under 
Washington's inspiration have created a great Nation, added to the 
dominion of liberty and of opportunity, and, Ave may hope, atiorded 
a helpful example to the world. It has not been accomplished with- 
out heavy sacrifices. At fearful cost we had to wipe out an ambigu- 
ity in the constitution and reestablish union where disunion threat- 
ened. In a conflict well-nigh as wide as the world, we were called 
to draw the sword for humanit}^ and the relief of oppression. Very 
recently we have paused to speak tribute to those who sacrificed in 
that struggle for civilization's preservation. We can not too often 
or too earnestly repeat that tribute; and Ave consecrate this institu- 
tion as a memorial and a shrine, in reminder to all the future of the 
services and sacrifices of our heroes of the World War. 



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